Botanical Description.
The Combretaceae family is composed of 20 genera and some 600 species and it is well represented in South and South West Africa and Botswana. The family is spread throughout most tropical countries. Five genera are found in Southern and Western Africa, four of which are tree species. Combretum is the largest genus with 350 spp. and is widely used in traditional African medicine. Combretum micranthum is a bushy shrub or creeper that can grow up to 20 m in height. The leaves are opposite, ovale acuminate and the flowers are born as axillary cluster on scaly stalks, with a whitish corolla and ferruginous scales covering the calyces. The flowers typically produce nectar and attract insects, birds, and small mammals [1]. C. micranthum is common on cultivated ground, throughout the continent, but it appears to be dominant in Sub-Saharan Africa, from Sudan to Nigeria, from Gambia to Congo [1].
Traditional Uses of Combretaceae.
Traditional medicines from around the world serve as potential new sources of bioactive molecular entities and promising directions for therapeutic investigation. These medicines derive from indigenous herbs, teas, spices and plants used singly or in combination as long-established healing tonics including drinks, poultices, or steam treatments. One such “drink of health” is kinkéliba tea, brewed from the kinkéliba leaves (C. micranthum) found in the African savannah regions of Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Mali. Among the Combretum plants, a number of bioactivities have been discovered including anti-inflammatory activity from C. kraussii and C. erythrophyllum; antimicrobial activity from C. imberbe, C. molle, C. fragrans, C. kraussi, and C. woodii; and anti-cancer activity from C. nigricans and C. caffrum which produced the combretastatins, a group of anti-tumor compounds that have progressed through to Phase II clinical trials. Kinkéliba is listed in the official Pharmacopoeia of Senegalese Traditional Medicinal and Poisonous Plants [2] and has been investigated by Bassene and Pousset, University of Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Dakar, Senegal. The medicinal beverage is brewed by steeping the dried kinkéliba leaves and traditionally used for weight loss, digestion, as a diuretic and mild antibiotic, to relieve pain and, in the case of fresh leaves, the treatment of malarial fever. The herbal infusion of kinkéliba has a pleasant flavor and light brown color.
Combretum micranthum is an ethnomedicinal plant widely used in West Africa to treat many diseases. In traditional medicine, kinkéliba is used for the treatment of wounds and sores, guinea worm infestations, diuretic and digestion [1, 3-5]. In the fresh form, the leaves are used to reduce fevers, especially malaria fever [3, 4, 6] and as anti-inflammatory agent [7]. The bark of C. micranthum has high antioxidant capacity and antibacterial activity, and this is directly related to its high content of polyphenolic content [8]. It is reported that kinkéliba branches are used in local handicraft and are an important material for building material for stools, beds, tool handles, etc. [9]. A tea, made from steeping the leaves in boiling water, is a traditional tonic drink in tropical savannah countries such as Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso and it is believed to be a general aid to weight loss and has detoxifying properties and ‘healthy benefits’, yet there is no specific information confirming any application nor any studies documenting its validity and/or underlying reason for its purported uses.
Kinkéliba is a native shrub that possesses well-documented medicinal properties used in West African Traditional Medicine, but has not been systematically studied to determine its origin at a molecular or chemical constituent level. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease that affects 180 million people worldwide, a number that is expected to double in the next 20 years (11). Type 2 diabetes, comprising approximately 90% of the cases worldwide, often develops from excess body weight and physical inactivity resulting in the body's ineffective use of insulin which creates hyperglycemia (11, 12). Despite various therapeutic agents have been developed for the treatment of this prevalent disease, there is a continuing need to discover and develop new agents or treatment methods for the disease with improved efficacy and toxicity profiles.